The Whole Marvel Cinematic Universe Timeline in 40 GIFS!

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I was browsing Imgur and saw that AZYD complied a timeline of the MCU out of a collection of gifs. The timeline includes every movie and tv show up through Age of Ultron (May 2015). SPOILER ALERT for all the movies and T.V. shows. All credit goes to AZYD. Check him out!

The Big Bang and the Infinity Stones

There are lots of resources out there about the Infinity Stones (or Gems). The only thing really clear in the movies is that there are six of them, formed around the time of the creation of the Universe, and each is extremely powerful.

Side note: in the comics, The Collector (shown here explaining the stones to the Guardians of the Galaxy) is an Elder of the Universe and has been alive for literally billions of years, so he actually fits at this point of the timeline too.

C. 3000 BCE The Convergence

Approximately every 5000 years, the Nine Realms align, creating portals, gravity shifts, and other physical anomalies in an event called the Convergence.

During the 3000 BCE Convergence, Malekith attempts to control the Aether (the Reality Stone) on Svartalfheim, the planet of the Dark Elves. He was defeated by Bor of Asgard, who locked the Aether away since it cannot be destroyed.

Kree Wars

The Kree (see Ronan later) fought with many alien species. During their war with the Skrull, a group of Kree run genetic experiments on other, more primitive species in an attempt to create super-soldiers. On Earth they are successful in creating super-powered homo sapiens whose descendents later call themselves Inhumans. The Kree leave behind Diviners, which are harmless to Inhumans but lethal to Humans.

965 Asgard-Jotunheim War

Laufey, King of the Frost Giants from Jotunheim, invades Tønsberg, Norway (on Earth / Midgard). Odin, Bor's son and King of Asgard at this time, fight to protect the Earth. Eventually Odin's army storms Jotunheim and wins the war.

Loki and Thor

Odin takes the The Casket of Ancient Winters from Jotunheim along with Laufey’s infant son, who had been abandoned. Odin names the baby Loki and raises him as an Asgardian, but Loki always feels in the shadow of his older brother Thor.

1940 Red Skull, The First Modern Supervillain

German scientist Abraham Erskine is forced to work on a super-soldier serum for the Nazis. Johann Schmidt takes an unstable version of the serum, which gives him extraordinary speed and strength but also burns his face, turning it red and deformed. This gives him the nickname Red Skull.

1942 Captain America, The First Modern Superhero

After several rejections from army recruiters, Steve Rogers is eventually chosen by Abraham Erskine to be the first candidate for a new, more stable version of his serum. Rogers becomes known as Captain America. Soon afterward, Schmidt uses the Tesseract (Space Stone) to create advanced weapons for Hydra. Rogers eventually defeats him but crashes into the arctic himself.

Bucky Barnes Becomes the Winter Soldier

Long before Roger’s crash, his best friend Bucky Barnes is captured by Hydra and then rescued by Rogers. During a later mission, Barnes fell to his apparent death. However, due to experiments Zola performed on him while captive, Barnes survives the fall. Further surgeries and brainwashing turn Barnes into the assassin known as the Winter Soldier.

Agent Carter

Peggy Carter works for the Strategic Scientific Reserve (S.S.R.). She is highly underappreciated, although this changes a little when she and Howard Stark’s butler Edwin Jarvis work to defeat the Russian criminal organization Leviathan.

1945 Werner Reinhardt (Later Daniel Whitehall)

Werner Reinhardt, a disciple of Red Skull, investigates alien artifacts for Hydra. When the S.S.R. captures him, they gain possession of many of these, including a Kree corpse and a Diviner, which they know only as “the Obelisk.”

Decades later, Reinhardt would be released by undercover Hydra operatives to continue investigating the Obelisk and those immune to its effects.

S.H.I.E.L.D. and Hydra

Eventually, Stark, Carter, and Chester Phillips found the Strategic Homeland Intervention, Enforcement and Logistics Division, or S.H.I.E.L.D. The recruit Nazi scientists Armin Zola, who uses his position to secretly rebuilt Hydra within S.H.I.E.L.D. Before Zola’s apparent death, his mind is transferred to an enormous computer to help continue Hydra’s development.

1988 Peter Quill Abducted

Peter Quill’s mother dies from cancer. Just afterward, Quill is abducted from Earth by the Ravagers, lead by Yondu Udonta. He lives in space for decades, becoming a criminal by the name of Star-Lord.

Bio-Tech Force Enhancement Project

General Thaddeus Ross, his daughter Betty Ross, and her boyfriend Bruce Banner all experiment with Gamma radiation. Banner is exposed to extreme amounts of radiation and transforms into the Hulk. The Hulk injures both Rosses and escapes; Banner then goes into hiding while searching for a cure.

Iron Man

Tony Stark becomes a billionaire selling weapons to the US Military. After he is kidnapped by terrorists (on orders from his business partner Obadiah Stane) and realizes the true harm his weapon cause, Stark shuts down all of his company’s weapons manufacturing.

Iron Man

Tony Stark creates the mini arc reactor and his armored suit. After a public battle with Stane’s suit (Iron Monger), Stark announces to the world that he is the hero “Iron Man.” In an after-credits scene, Nick Fury approaches Stark to talk about the Avengers Initiative.

The Incredible Hulk

General Ross tracks down Bruce Banner in Brazil and then at Culver University. Ross gives Emil Blonsky a similar serum to that which created the Hulk. Blonsky becomes the Abomination; he fights and eventually loses to the Hulk.

FURY’S BIG WEEK: The Incredible Hulk, Iron Man Two, and Thor all take place within the same week!

Iron Man Two

Ivan Vanko independently invents a mini arc reactor and uses it to create the Whiplash harness. He attack Stark during the Monaco Grand Prix, but Stark defeats him. Stark’s rival Justin Hammer fakes Vanko’s death in prison and contracts him to create an army of suits.

FURY’S BIG WEEK: The Incredible Hulk, Iron Man Two, and Thor all take place within the same week!

Iron Man Two

Tony Stark’s chest reactor is poisoning him. Nick Fury, Director of S.H.I.E.L.D., sends Agent Natasha Romanoff (Black Widow) to observe Stark. Colonel Rhodes steals Stark’s second suit for use by the US Military. Eventually, Tony uses his father’s notes to synthesize a new element and cure himself. He and Rhodes then defeat Vanko together.

FURY’S BIG WEEK: The Incredible Hulk, Iron Man Two, and Thor all take place within the same week!

Thor

Loki allows a few Frost Giants to attack Asgard during Thor’s coronation as a prank. Thor and his friends then start a fight on Jotunheim, causing Odin to banish Thor to Earth as punishment. There, he meets astrophysicist Jane Foster.

FURY’S BIG WEEK: The Incredible Hulk, Iron Man Two, and Thor all take place within the same week!

Thor

Thor eventually learns enough humility to regain his powers. He defeats the Destroyer, an Asgardian weapon Loki sent to Earth, and then battles Loki in Asgard. Thor destroys the Bifrost — the Asgardians’ easiest means of travelling between worlds — in order to save Jotunheim from Loki.

FURY’S BIG WEEK: The Incredible Hulk, Iron Man Two, and Thor all take place within the same week!

Captain America Discovered

Captain America is found frozen but alive in the arctic.

Not shown: Loki is approached by Thanos and his servant The Other. Thanos gives Loki a Scepter containing the Mind Stone and offers Loki control of Earth if he can bring Thanos the Tesseract.

The Avengers

Loki opens a portal with the Tesseract, steals it, and begins his attack on Earth, converting S.H.I.E.L.D. agents using the Scepter.

The Avengers

Thor agrees to have Loki imprisoned on the helicarrier. Agent Barton and others controlled by the Scepter attack the helicarrier, unleashing the Hulk in the process. Loki kills Phil Coulson during his escape.

Loki uses the Tesseract to open a portal above New York City, allowing the Chitauri army to invade. The Avengers close the portal and defeat Loki, who is remanded to Asgard.

Iron Man 3

Tony Stark suffers from PTSD after the Battle of New York. He spends his time building dozens of various Iron Man suits. After a terrorist called the Mandarin attacks Stark’s Malibu mansion, Stark is stranded in Tennessee and presumed dead.

Iron Man 3

Stark discovers that the Mandarin is a puppet of Aldrich Killian, who, along with Maya Hansen, has developed Extremis, an unstable drug that regenerates cells but can also lead to spontaneous explosion.

Killian kidnaps Pepper Potts and doses her with Extremis. He also kidnaps President Matthew Ellis, but Ellis is rescued by Stark and Rhodes. Pepper almost dies in the process but is saved due to her Extremis abilities. Tony cures Pepper of Extremis and uses it to finally fix his own heart.

Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. Episodes One Through Seven

Mike Peterson is recruited to Project Centipede, which gives him a version of Extremis. Agent Phil Coulson is brought back to life via the secretive T.A.H.I.T.I. project. He and a newly formed team deal with Project Centipede and a variety of other interconnected threats.

Thor: The Dark World

Thor works to maintain peace in the Nine Realms while the Bifrost is rebuilt. The Convergence begins again, causing random portals to appear. Jane Foster, while studying the portals, passes through one to the location of the Aether (Reality Stone), which infects her. Thor brings her to Asgard for medical treatment, which fails.

Thor: The Dark World

Malekith and the Dark Elves awakens and attacks Asgard, killing Thor’s mother Frigga. Thor frees Loki to take vengeance on Malekith, but Malekith takes the Aether and Loki appears to die. As the Convergence peaks and portals form everywhere, Thor fights Malekith across the Nine Realms, eventually defeating him with the help of Jane’s scientific equipment.

In a post-credits scene, the Aether is given to the Collector for safekeeping.

Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. Episodes Eight Through Sixteen

Coulson discovers that the T.A.H.I.T.I. project involves a serum made from the body of a Kree. He and Skye also realize that the Clairvoyant, the mysterious organizer behind several recent incidents, is actually a double-agent within S.H.I.E.L.D.

Captain America: The Winter Soldier

Nick Fury is apparently killed by the Winter Soldier, who is later revealed to be Bucky Barnes. Rogers, Black Widow, and new ally Sam Wilson (Falcon) discover and thwart a Hydra plot to kill thousands of potential threats. Rogers and Wilson leave to search for Barnes, whom Rogers believes may still be good.

The Winter Soldier/Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.

Captain America and S.H.I.E.L.D. prevent Hydra’s complete takeover, by Hydra’s public re-emergence is extremely damaging to S.H.I.E.L.D., both physically and in reputation.

The Clairvoyant and several others are revealed as a members of Hydra. They are eventually stopped by Coulson and his team. Fury picks Coulson to be the new Director of what remains of S.H.I.E.L.D.

Guardians of the Galaxy

Ronan the Accuser, a radical militant Kree, agrees to retrieve The Orb for Thanos in exchange for the eradication of the Xandarians. The Orb is stolen by Peter Quill (Star-Lord), and Ronan sends the assassin Gamora after it. Quill and Gamora are attacked by bounty hunters Groot and Rocket Racoon, and all four are then captured and imprisoned.

Guardians of the Galaxy

In prison, Gamora is attacked by Drax the Destroyer for being an associate of Ronan. Quill, Gamora, Drax, Rocket, and Groot all escape prison and name themselves the Guardians of the Galaxy.

Ronan takes the Orb from them, and when he realizes it contains the Power Stone, he decides to attack Xandar himself. Ronan is stopped by the Guardians and Xandar’s defense, the Nova Corps, who are given possession of the Power Stone.

Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. Episodes Seventeen Through Twenty-Two, Beginning of Season Two

Coulson and his team attempt to rebuild S.H.I.E.L.D. and fight the remnants of Hydra while also investigating mysterious writings which are somehow connected to Project T.A.H.I.T.I. and the Kree.

Daredevil Season One

Matt Murdock is a blind lawyer in New York City’s Hell’s Kitchen. Murdock begins fighting crime at night under the alias Daredevil as crime lord Wilson Fisk (the Kingpin) comes to power.

Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. Season Two

Coulson deals with a coup from within S.H.I.E.L.D. and with the discovery of the Inhuman community. He also determines the location of Loki’s Scepter at Hydra base.

Avengers: Age of Ultron

The Avengers attack the last Hydra base to retrieve Loki’s Scepter. There they face twins Pietro and Wanda Maximoff. Hydra’s experiments have given Pietro (Quicksilver) superhuman speed and Wanda (Scarlet Witch) mind control and energy projection. Stark uses the Mind Stone within the Scepter to advance Project Ultron, his attempt to create AI-driven suits of armor to protect the world. However, Ultron decides that the only way to save the world is to destroy humanity.

Avengers: Age of Ultron

Ultron teams up with the Maximoff twins, using Scarlet Witch to release the Hulk, who is ultimately subdued by Stark and a specially designed suit. Ultron uses the Mind Stone to create a new body, but when the twins realize Ultron plans to destroy the world, they turn on him and give the body to the Avengers. Stark merges Jarvis with this body, creating the Vision, who helps the Avengers and the twins defeat Ultron.

The New Avengers include War Machine, Falcon, Vision, and Scarlet Witch.

Avengers: Age of Ultron: Post-Credits Scene

Thanos decides to go after the Infinity Stones himself.

Currently, the Space Stone (Tesseract) is on Asgard, the Reality Stone (Aether) is with the Collector, the Power Stone (in the Orb) is on Xandar, and the Mind Stone is in the Vision’s head. The Time Stone and Soul Stone have yet to feature in a Marvel movie.

There you have it, all major MCU events over the span of thousands of years. Let me know what you think! If you liked the article, click the follow button!

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